Washington (CNN) - Nine months after the Sandy Hook school shooting tragedy, President Barack Obama is putting millions of dollars into funding armed police officers in schools across the country, an idea not too far removed from an National Rifle Association proposal to make sure schools are protected by “good guys with guns.”

Friday afternoon the Justice Department announced about $45 million in funding intended to create 356 new school resource officer positions under the federal COPS grants.
"In the wake of past tragedies, it's clear that we need to be willing to take all possible steps to ensure that our kids are safe when they go to school," Attorney General Eric Holder said in the statement.

"Especially in a time of increased challenges and limited budgets, our top priority must always be the safety and well-being of our children."

Newtown Connecticut, the site of the Sandy Hook tragedy, will be given money to create two new police officers in local schools.

The COPS grants, which stand for Community Oriented Policing Services, are announced annually by the Justice Department. This year the priority is being given to grants for putting armed police officers in schools. About $125 million in total grants were announced to fully fund the hiring of new community policing officers by local law enforcement agencies for three years.

In the immediate aftermath of Sandy Hook, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre proposed that armed guards, not necessarily police officers, be put immediately into every public school in America.

More guns, in schools and among the general population, have been the single most prominent solution offered by the NRA and other pro-gun voices in response to shootings at Sandy Hook and elsewhere, including the murder of 12 people earlier this month at the Washington Navy Yard.

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," LaPierre said last year in announcing an NRA program that would help facilitate and train such armed guards.
NRA clear on gun debate stance: arm schools

That idea, of more "good guys with guns," has been repeated frequently since then. Gun rights advocates argue that mass shootings happen primarily in what they call "gun free zones" where firearms are banned. They argue that such shootings do not happen in areas where guns are common and that people need to be able to defend themselves.

For the most part, the Obama administration and the NRA have been at odds over solutions to preventing shooting violence.

Efforts to introduce universal background checks and other measures to prevent gun violence spearheaded by Vice President Joe Biden have failed to earn a 60-vote supermajority in Congress. They are opposed by gun rights groups and NRA-backed legislators who among other things fear a federal firearms registry that would one day lead to gun confiscation.
NRA's LaPierre slams Obama administration over gun proposals

Even now, the Obama administration has not perfectly duplicated the NRA plan. Whereas the NRA called for armed guards and did not specify police officers, the COPS grants will go explicitly to trained law enforcement.

soundoff(21 Responses)

just saying

Nine months after the Sandy Hook school shooting tragedy, President Barack Obama seems to be borrowing one of the ideas first presented by the NRA, putting millions of dollars into funding armed police officers in schools across the country.
Friday afternoon the Justice Department announced about $45 million in funding intended to create 356 new school resource officer positions under the federal COPS grants.
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but all the looney lefties in here said this was a totally insane idea?!!! so i guess that means that obama has lost his mind right?

September 27, 2013 04:35 pm at 4:35 pm |

Marie MD

If anyone should ever be wearing a big target on their backs it should start with the NRA slobbering fool who wants people to buy guns so that he and his organization keep getting richer.

September 27, 2013 04:39 pm at 4:39 pm |

Donna

Looks like another late Friday dump of all the embarrassing Obama stuff!! Why say all you leftists about this? I'm sure you are 110% behind Obama like you always are!! Too funny.

September 27, 2013 04:43 pm at 4:43 pm |

Data Driven

@just saying,

"but all the looney lefties in here said this was a totally insane idea?!!! so i guess that means that obama has lost his mind right?"

No, and no. We said arming teachers and janitors was an insane idea. Obama is putting millions into funding trained security personnel at our schools. This doesn't make Obama crazy; it makes him smart - as long as they're not armed with WMD like AR-15s or other semi-automatic rifles.

September 27, 2013 04:45 pm at 4:45 pm |

Marie MD

@ Donna, is that you the screecher from AK or one of her gross or screecher power?
Can't be you can spell.

September 27, 2013 04:51 pm at 4:51 pm |

thinking outside the box

@just saying

but all the looney lefties in here said this was a totally insane idea?!!! so i guess that means that obama has lost his mind right?
___________________________________________

It means that Obama is a Centrist and not a Socialist, Commie, Marxist, Fascist, Nazi like some on the right claim him to be.

September 27, 2013 04:52 pm at 4:52 pm |

anonymous

Well, looks like the NRA, the Republicans and the conservatives were right again! Now sit down and eat your crow nicely lefties. yum, yum, yum, good crow!

September 27, 2013 04:54 pm at 4:54 pm |

Mike in Texas

@ Donna,

What say all you righties about this? Do you support it or are you 110% against Obama like you always are? Too funny.

Don't you like how that works?

September 27, 2013 05:00 pm at 5:00 pm |

Mike in Texas

@ anonymous,

Read the article. The NRA stated trained guards and did not specify police officers. The COPS grant specifies trained law enforcement. So the NRA plan could mean and Tom, Dick or Jane.

It's amazing how much you can learn by actually reading something. WOW!!!

September 27, 2013 05:03 pm at 5:03 pm |

O'drama ya Mama

Donna

Looks like another late Friday dump of all the embarrassing Obama stuff!! Why say all you leftists about this? I'm sure you are 110% behind Obama like you always are!! Too funny.
September 27, 2013 04:43 pm at 4:43 pm |
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

I bet your with him on this Donna. Or are you now against it out of spite because Obama is now for it?

September 27, 2013 05:05 pm at 5:05 pm |

Mike in Texas

So will all of you Obama haters be against this? What this proves like thinking outside the box said is Obama is a Centrist not a lefty commie socialist like you usually portray him. I think it's harder for conservatives to agree with Obama when he does something they want as it is liberals to disagree with him when he does something they don't. Reason: It means admitting the guy isn't wrong 100% of the time. That's a tough pill to swallow for some.

September 27, 2013 05:06 pm at 5:06 pm |

Data Driven

@anonymous,

"Well, looks like the NRA, the Republicans and the conservatives were right again!"

Here, let me pass this plate of crow over to you. It goes particularly well with a bottle of Chateau Margaux, the '01 vintage. Try the buttered rolls, too.

September 27, 2013 05:11 pm at 5:11 pm |

Eric Crane

I don't know why we can't just allow teachers and school staff to carry concealed. Provide recurrent training and a stipend to those that demonstrate that they are actually trained and actually carry and that $45,000,000 could have covered most of the schools in the US.

September 27, 2013 05:38 pm at 5:38 pm |

Dan

The NRA was never against cops in schools. They never proposed that you just hand Joe Blow Janitor an AR-15 or a pistol and say have at it. They supported having properly trained, vetted, and armed security or undercover guards.

Where does anyone get off classifying an AR-15 as a WMD? You do understand an AR-15 is not a FULL-AUTO? Please understand this AR-15 rifes are used in less than .003% of gun crimes. Why think banning .003% of weapons is going to stop another shooter? It didn't stop the Navy shooter.

The Navy Yard shooter was able to do some mass destruction with a Joe Biden approved weapon. That was a manually operated pump action, not semi-auto. Thanks to Bill Clinton no military personnel were armed.

September 27, 2013 05:52 pm at 5:52 pm |

smith

Well, heck yeah Obama. He finally gets it "A good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun or any other weapon". This plan alson creates much needed jobs for trained police officers and hopefully military vets. The NRA and Obama on the same page. Keep up the good work.

September 27, 2013 06:11 pm at 6:11 pm |

Rick McDaniel

The truth is........if you do nothing about the mentally ill running around loose, then the mass shootings will continue........and NOTHING is being done about the mentally ill.......period.

September 27, 2013 06:15 pm at 6:15 pm |

Marshall

Yo Data Driven...do you even research what you say? the NRA wanted "TRAINED" individuals with firearms. The only thing a janitor is need for is to carry out your ridiculous statement and trash it!!!

September 27, 2013 06:18 pm at 6:18 pm |

don in albuquerque

This is just tooooooo funny. Now the POTUS is wrong for putting cops in schools, instead of arming teachers and janitors.
Which in and of itself was just and insane idea. What will make you guys happy? How about if we put members of the Tolstoy Ballet complete with tutu's carrying Uzi's and glocks in the schools. More to your liking or a little to socialist? Just admit you don't like the guy and if he started handing out sunshine in cups you would still be against it.

September 27, 2013 08:25 pm at 8:25 pm |

V8

What's 45 million for whole country if they are giving 100 million to just one city – detroit...

September 27, 2013 10:43 pm at 10:43 pm |

MattM

BTW, Registered Independent, NOT a Republican.
Just looking at the whole thing from a third person perspective

September 28, 2013 12:26 am at 12:26 am |

tom l

The liberals on here are absolutely brilliant. Completely deflecting the true meaning behind this and staying true to the "us" vs. "them" mindset. The bottom line, if you really care to recognize, is that when guns are in the hands of honest, law abiding citizens, that's a good thing. Why do liberals feel so compelled to argue such obvious points on such partisan politics?